Jonny Forumer: QPR 0-5 Swansea

Newly installed Swansea City manager Michael Laudrup got his Swans off to a flyer at Loftus Road, where Queens Park Rangers boss Mark Hughes is presumably still staring into the mirror trying to reconcile the decent squad of players he’s accumulated with the shambles that went down 0-5 on Saturday. Join Football Burp’s very own Jonny Forumer in picking the game apart through the eyes of the two respective fan bases – at least the online communities thereof – starting with those jubilant Swans…

Swansea City

What a fantastic performance by the boys – everybody performing superbly in a difficult match (according to papers and statistics). I have to make an apology to Dyer slating him for not scoring goals enough as a winger. What a first touch and scoring two excellent goals. Dyer was clearly benefiting by the narrower wing style. Very difficult to name the man of the match. But my man of the match is Michu though. What a magnificent second goal. It was an excellent tactical triumph by Laudrup as well.

I watched the game with several of Laudrup’s statements firmly in the front of my mind about what he said he was doing.

1. He said that the major change from last season was to have the “wide” men play more into the lanes. They did that and several of our goals resulted. Strangely, Sinclair did not – no doubt because he missed nearly all of the pre-season and the personal coaching.

2. He said that he worked personally with Routledge and Dyer for a good part of the pre-season. It definitely showed, as both of them played a very obviously different “style” – at least partly as described in #1, above.

For me, that makes Laudrup an even more excellent manager. Long may it continue!

I thought both Routledge and Dyer had superb games today – the best game I’ve seen Routledge play.

Dyer’s goals were from a direct result of him coming inside and picking up good positions between defenders.

Last season I think he would of been out wide hugging the touchline, Laudrups “main tactical change” paid dividends today and I am very pleased with that.

On another note Nathan Dyer is looking more and more confident in front of goal and I salute him if that is what he has been working hard on in the training ground.

If he adds that genuine end product to his game then I am afraid he will be gone to a top team come next summer, he deserves it though, he has matured leaps and bounds since his run in with the law at Southampton and shows that maturity in his play, he has a work rate and defensive ability that the likes of Aaron Lennon and Theo Walcott could only envy.

To hear that Laudrup is personally working with the wingers is great news. There is no doubt that he can teach technically sound attacking players like Dyer and Routledge things than Brendan could never manage for obvious reason.

Allen would have learned shedloads from Laudrup, no question. All he’ll learn at Anfield is more of the same and, with the likely added pressure of playing in an underperforming side, he may well end up going backwards at a rate of knots as a player which would be sad.

Queens Park Rangers

Any manager wanting to win a game at HOME would never start with one striker up front. Adel is not a striker at this level and crowded out and ruined our mid-field. Im not impressed with Hughes if he can’t see that we need a hold up player (Zamora) to bring others into play.

Secondly, Fabio proceeded to continue to get in Hoiletts way and he should be a left back….LEFT back in Manchester!

Thirdly …does J.S Park run around in more circles than SWP ?

Finally it says everything about football when you walk out the ground and see that Kieron Dyer has a top of the range Bentley !!!!! If I under performed or no-showed that often I would be catching busses and trains.

The only two players who were encouraging/ haranguing players for the R’s were Hill & Taarabt. After the 4th went in Park just stood by the centre circle waiting for kick off, not one word to our players. He is no captain IMO.

The midfield was so overcrowded it choked itself, and at times we appeared to playing seven in the middle with only Samba in a holding role, and clearly not coping very well without Derry or Barton (yes, I know!) alongside.
Hughes has made a bed of nails for himself with so many midfielders in the squad… who does he bench without causing major tantrums in the dressing room? How can he not play Johnson when the guy only came here to get the regular starts Jol wasn’t giving him at Fulham? And what to do about Taarabt? who already looks like he’s throwing a major sulk because Hoilett can match in the skill department…

Would much rather we played 4-4-2 or even 4-3-3. Or if we can buy a decent central defender (big ask) then what about 3-2-3-2 with Traore and Bosingwa as wing backs?

I really think it [the reason for defeat] was playing with 5 attacking midfielders. All very creative, all very similar, all wanting to do the same thing and getting each other’s way. No piano pushers and 6 hands on the same non-existent piano.

It wasn’t that they didn’t track back. Even Taarabt went back into his own half and got a couple of tackles in, but we didn’t have anyone who had decided that this game, his job was going to be to win the ball and stop the opposition playing. The only players we have who could do that are Barton and Derry, so basically just Derry.

The 4-4-2 thing I also agree with, but not because we conceded 5 goals, but because Cissé was rendered completely ineffective.

We need someone to form a pair with him, and I really think that should be Zamora. We don’t have Helguson or Bothroyd and Johnson isn’t the right kind of player to do it with him.

Our defence IS capable of playing well, given some midfield protection, and also when we have an attack strong and effective enough to make the opposition think twice (although in fairness Swansea ALWAYS think twice and only go forward when they feel completely safe to do so – it’s just they had a LOT of those moments on Saturday).

For that reason I’d like to see the following lineup

Green (yes, let’s not give up on him just yet)

Onuhoa Ferdinand Hill Fabio (on the understanding that he does some defending)

Mackie Park Derry Taarabt

Zamora Cissé

How do you feel about your team’s chances this season in the wake of this weekend’s game, QPR and Swansea fans? Have your say in the comments section below!